World’s youngest doctor set to be seven-year-old Selvi

A girl could yet put Doogie Howser MD in the shade by becoming the world’s youngest doctor.

Selvi Bakkiashree can already recite the names of 1,000 medicine brands including betamethosone, ethambutol and filgrastrim – at the age of seven.

She can also prescribe the correct medicine for ailments such as pneumonia, leukaemia and dengue. Now Selvi hopes to put her photographic memory to use by becoming a young doctor – just like teenager Doogie Howser in the TV comedy series.

The girl’s medical talents first came to light at the age of six when she began reading medical books for fun during a visit to her aunt.

She now spends four hours a day learning the names of medicines.

‘It gives me a lot of pleasure to know them perfectly,’ she said. Doctors including India’s director of health questioned Selvi’s medical knowledge and were stunned.

The girl’s father, Baskaran Bakkiashree, said he hopes she realises her dream to be an oncologist.

Selvi plans to sit a medical exam within three years to enter a private medical college, he said.

‘If she succeeds, she would be the youngest doctor in the world,’ added the watchmaker from Ariyankuppam in Pondicherry, southern India.

Selvi said it doesn’t bother her that she doesn’t have many friends since studying.

‘These dictionaries and journals are my best friends,’ she said.

The world’s current youngest doctor is Balamurali Ambati, who graduated at the age of 17 in the US in 1995.